It’s almost 9 months now since I signed the cheque and Lady Penelope emigrated from Victoria to reside in WA. So it’s time to start a sort of blog, detailing her adventures and my personal experiences of living with a classy, yet sometimes demanding lady.

Initial experiences were good and she passed her roadworthy inspection (aka MOT for those north of the equator ) first time. The earlier thread in this sub-Forum tells the story.

Since being registered in October there hasn't been a lot requiring immediate attention, mechanically speaking.

The first hurdle was getting the new remote, supplied as part of the sale, to pair up with the car. After all the experts in Perth ran away and hid, some advice from the forum here coupled with a couple of posts in the XJS section on Jaguarforums resulted in success. I was also lucky that a UK private import MY93 4litre was being parted out here and I managed to get the requisite switch along with a number of electronic modules, side mirror and a few other bits n bobs for the insurance spares box.

Next problem to arise was the electric cooling fans not kicking in. I first became aware of the problem when the aircon failed to work on a hot day here. In the end there were 2 unrelated issues. First was the cooling fan relay and second a defective pressure switch on the aircon. Again the forum was a great help in giving me valuable hints as where to go.

The memory function on the driver’s seat electrics was also not working, but all other functions are fine. It’s not a show stopper as I’m the only driver, so I haven’t spent a lot of time on it. Thus far I’ve cleaned the module contacts and stripped/cleaned the switch, with no success. Next step will be to swap out the module for the one I got from the wreck and if that fails I’m heading to the seat motors and potentiometers

Another irritation is a very occasional clunk on the driver’s side, when hitting a bump. I suspect it is a combination of issues and have slowly been eliminating a few. Firstly the driver’s door mirror is missing a spring so it is a bit floppy. Tapping it up with masking tape has made a measurable improvement in clunk reduction, so I will swap that out with the spare I grabbed when I get a chance. Next rattle found was the seat module cover being loose and missing the rear fir tree clips. Replacing those has removed another clunk. Ditto clearing the door pocket. Fingers crossed that will be it, but if there are any further noises it'll be time to have a closer look at the front suspension and shocker bushes.

Trim n Bling...

Cruising ebay late last year I happened to come across a NOS cupholder arm rest in Doeskin. I jumped on it and a few weeks later Lady Penelope was sporting cupholders as her Christmas present. I also got a set of NOS dashboard woods as well at the same time for the insurance spares box.

Last weekend she also scored a set of fluffy mats in the correct Rattan shade. At the same time I replaced the rear passenger headrest with a good second hand item as the old one appeared to have been bitten by a dog at some stage. Mats and head rest were sourced from a wrecker in Adelaide. It was interesting comparing 93 and 94 models at the wrecker though. The 93 headrests had a leather central panel while the 94 model were all vinyl. Jaguar obviously saving a few pennies.

The fluffy mats were a bit matted and grubby, but a gentle washing/soaking in wool wash, cleaned them up and using a dogs slicker brush restored the pile. First brushing was damp followed by a final brush when dry. Changing the rear headrest stumped me for a bit. Eventually I removed the back seat and popped the clips from the rear. Found a good assortment of bobby pins, a comb, hotel sewing kit and $4.10 in small change under the seat!

Memorable Outings and Events.

The first was in March when she got to go to the ball and transported my daughter and her friends to the year 12 formal. As we all know classic Jags and formal events just naturally go together. Pity the rest of the party had to follow us in a stretch pink hummer

The next event was mid May where Lady Penelope made her formal entrée to Perth Jaguar Society at the British Car day in Gin Gin, about 1.5hrs drive north of Perth. It’s a big day with all the British car clubs taking over the town. Last year apparently 700 cars attended, but numbers this year were well down due to rain. Lady P was well received and looked quite at home with the other classics, which included a couple of other 6cyl XJ40’s and a Daimler 6. On the way home we treated each other to a wee Italian tune-up, overtaking an old WW2 Morris Ambulance, which also nicely removed a tailgating/queue hopping WRX from my rear view mirror.

Well on that note we're pretty well up to date so stay tuned for the occasional new post.

Great to hear how Lady Penelope is progressing, and her latest outings. That is a very, very pink Hummer I guess it is unlikely to be hit by another car in an accident anytime soon - "sorry, I didn't see you", not likely! A first showing is a good milestone despite the weather and it is also good there were a couple of other XJs there as well. Nice to hear about a Rex pilot getting a bit of a surprise, at highway speeds the big V12 should be carrying the momentum and torque to show a clean pair of heels to most things. I'm also glad the 'Italian tune-up' went well and with any luck there will be a few more here and there to make sure that she behaves as a lady should!

Once I have finished my initial work-over of Bast I might start a similar post I will post some of the more involved jobs as I do them, particularly things like the transmission valve body overhaul. I have just replaced the oil pressure sender unit - the usual fluctuating readings/light despite excellent pressure with an external gauge. For your info if needed later: The senders are no longer available new so I used a new XJS sender unit (C46272 - same as 80s XJ6/12) and made a 'link lead' with a 48 Ohm 1 Watt resistor to correct the reading range. It now mirrors the external gauge readings exactly.

Best,

Starbuck

P.S. I'll have to remember there is another XJ12 owner here on E-Bay - I was watching that cup holder armrest in the US and wondering if I should fork out for it, but it was gone next time I looked! At least it went to a good home

Thanks for the heads up on the oil sender mod. ATM Lady P is all good in that respect I'll also look forward to reading your posts of the works on Bast. Remember a pics are better than a 1000 words

If you were thinking of Paul's jag in Florida on ebay, he had a couple of doeskin arm rests and after I bought mine he put another up. I gave them a Skype and spoke to Jeremy there, an older guy with a British accent. Apparently they have a lot of stuff they don't put on ebay, so if you were after an arm rest it may be worth an email/call.

When I do the valve body I will post pictures as it is a reasonably complex job that must be done in an absolutely clean environment (read inside the house, wolf locked out of the room), and since I spent a lot of time working with very high pressure complex hydraulic systems I might as well 'spread the love'.

Not much point posting photos for the front suspension, rear shocks etc, as others before me have already done so. The link lead is just a male and female spade connector with the 48 Ohm 1 Watt resistor soldered between the connectors, and some heat shrink over it all. If you ever get to needing one it will take me five minutes to make one and pop it in the post to WA.

I might send Paul's Jag an e-mail and see if they have another armrest sitting around gathering dust. I have bought a few bits and pieces from them in the past, including a complete NOS set of woodwork for my XJS.

Thanks again! Funny thing but I also got a set of NOS dash woods from Paul's as well for Lady P. As you will well know Jagdaim are also another good source of bits, and a phone call will often unearth something in their catacombs. Got the matching door woods from them earlier in the year.

As for wolves Norman I suspect she is referring to the family hound

I wouldn't let mine anywhere a clean zone either as he moults enough to fill a mattress at certain times of the year.

Lady P has been earning her living this week with a bit of enforced daily driver duty. Charlie is at the panel beaters getting a couple of bumps fixed and Iggy was lent to a friend visiting from Kal. The Alfa is overdue for a good run but as we don't have the historic log book system here, driving to work on historic plates is verboten.

JagDaim were having a cleanout of XJ40/81 parts earlier this year so I bought a bunch of XJ81 stuff for the spares shelf. It's the usual story, if you have a spare sitting on the shelf you will never need it! A few more bits for Bast arrived from SNG Barratt in the UK today, mostly small stuff like a new 'slider' knob for the climate control and some trim clips - I discovered one was missing when I removed the passenger side dash under tray looking for the non-existent V12 transmission relay. I'm a great believer in getting all of these parts while I can.

Sad that you don't have the log book system in WA. We haven't had it all that long here, but it is a huge improvement over the old 'testing close to home and club run only' rule.

Yes Norman (and Steve), the wolf is an extremely large Alaskan Malamute (pretty much just a wolf) called Lara. Lara is a member of the family and loved to bits by all, just not when I am trying to do something that involves a 'clean' work environment!

Yesterday, Lady Penelope and I went on a quick 500km day trip to Jurien Bay with the local Jaguar club, to look at a country members Vincent motor cycle collection. Overall a most enjoyable day. The highway is both scenic, following the Indian ocean and also a great drive. A few of moments of indecent haste were necessary though, during the journey, to clear her lungs and pass the plethora of 4WDs and grey nomad caravans.

500k is 300 miles in the old currency and the trip took 2.5hrs each way. I'm impressed with the economy of the V12, Averaged 14l/100km and I could have done it on one tank, but chickened out at 550km on the odo, for a refill. BTW this comment is in the context of having owned a V8 Classic Range Rover!

Lady P socialising

Indian Ocean Drive north of Perth. 110kph is just too slow for this road

Nice photos and great to see 'Lady Penelope' out for a run with some of her relatives That stretch of road reminds me of a stretch of the GO road near the 12 (or however many are left now) Apostles - it has that same open windswept look that invites reeling in the horizon, just because you can.....